


Note to Self: Sleeping Pills Don’t Work

by Spyrofury767



Category: Danny Phantom
Genre: BAMF Danny, Danny Needs a Hug, Danny Whump, Exhaustion, Gay Bar, Ghosts, High School, Multi, Nightmares, One Shot Collection, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Soliloquy, Tags Are Hard, fuck you sickness, i am going to torture you, like honestly, lotsa ghosts, sorry danny, sucks, thats a thing, yep
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-30
Updated: 2017-03-20
Packaged: 2018-08-18 17:17:20
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 17,992
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8169709
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Spyrofury767/pseuds/Spyrofury767
Summary: Mostly where I'm going to post my Phantom one shots, but some may be posted separately. Check the notes for each chapter summary. 
Some will be fluffy, some hurt/comfort… Fuck it, just read them dammit.





	1. A Night To Remember

**Author's Note:**

> Jazz couldn't get a date for her senior prom. 
> 
> Leave that to helpful brother Danny!

Danny let out a mild hiss, leaning on the backboard of his bed. The gouge in his shoulder stung from his earlier that day fight with Skulker, although he had bandaged his tricep well. His ankle also ached, testament to the break in it from a battle with Ember three days ago.

 

Gently, he sat up, drawing his right foot up to near his hip, turning his flesh invisible to check the bone. It was still well set, supported by danny’s clumsy, but unseeable splint. The half ghost sighed, releasing the cold in his muscles, allowing them to return to visibility. 

 

Danny relaxed, allowing his leg to stretch out again, laying down on his side, closing his eyes slowly. It had been an ok day. He hadn’t gotten thrown around too badly at school, he defeated Skulker with a minor (To him anyway…) flesh wound, and made it home before curfew.  _ Maybe I can actually get a decent sleep tonight…  _ He willed. 

 

Then his phone buzzed loudly by the side, clattering annoyingly on his bedside table. 

 

“Ugh…” Danny groaned, cussing internally while picking it up. 

 

<Bro, emergency!> The messages app on the screen read, beside a name tag that read ‘Delicious Dark Chocolate Man.’

 

<What is it, Tuck?> Danny replied to the text, the entire left half of his face buried into his pillow. He cast a quick glance upward, noting the time. 11:48 PM. 

 

<Brobrobrobrobrobro we need to help your sister!> The text was almost instant. 

 

<What the hell does jazz need me for?!> Danny tapped furiously as he could with only his left thumb, dropping his phone onto the soft top-cushion of his bed like twice in the process. 

 

<Bro, she doesn’t have a date for her senior prom.>

 

“WHAT?!” Danny shouted out loud, shooting upright, staring at the screen in disbelief. When she was younger, Jazz had practically owned every boy in her class. She was smart, funny, kind, and beautiful. How in the world she didn’t have a prom date for her senior, in three days, was astounding. <WHAT?!>

 

<Do you think I'm kidding?! We need to do something!> Tucker replied to him at a speed that left Danny wondering how the hell he still had fingers and not just light.

 

<Ok, I agree, we need to do something.> Danny stated, then reconsidered. <Suggestions would be nice.> He flipped onto his back, getting the option to use both hands without aggravating his shoulder.

 

The reply was slow in coming, almost 5 minutes late. <...I've got one, but you aren’t going to like it.>

 

<Oh god…> Danny replied, exactly what he was thinking. 

 

<MHI5> Tucker sent. Danny sighed, sitting up in bed. ‘MHI5’ was their code word for ‘my house in 5.’ Basically call to meeting for team Phantom. Danny flipped his legs around, placing them on the floor, slowly rising off of his soft, warm bed. With a mental call of ‘Going Ghost,’ basically Danny’s trigger phrase, he shifted, the cold glow of the ring of power encircling his waist. They traced up and down his body, transforming him into Phantom, the most hated hero in Amity Park. 

 

With a small kick off the ground with his good leg, Danny forced the feeling of weightlessness to kick in, leaving the halfa hovering a good foot off the floor before he turned around and whipped through the open window, toward his best friend’s house. 

 

^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^

 

When Danny phased through Tucker’s window not three minutes later, he had been expecting a grand many things. 

 

Tucker and Sam examining a black and white tux was not one of them. 

 

“Oh, Danny.” Sam smiled. “Heya.” She turned to face him even while he was still invisible and intangible. Danny learned that she had gotten very good at detecting the slight shift in temperature, the subtle twinge in air pressure, how apparently, her insides suddenly felt a lot lighter when he was invisible nearby. 

 

“Aw come on!” Danny appeared, placing feet on the floor and releasing flight, walking over to them. “I can’t sneak up on you anymore!” 

 

“Well, you won’t need stealthery where you’re going.” Sam yanked the tux off of the bed and threw it at Danny. He managed to catch the smooth, posh looking fabric. 

 

“Why do I need this?” He asked, almost going to change back into Fenton, the rings appearing at his lower ribcage. 

 

“Ah ah ah! Back to ghost!” Sam demanded, waving off the glow. 

 

Quickly, Danny complied. “Ok, but why the hell are you giving me a tuxe-” 

 

“Just shut up and put it on!” Sam barked, spinning Danny around and shoving him for the closet. 

 

Quickly, Danny slid into the closet, not wanting to risk Sam’s wrath, stepped out of his hazmat (Advantage of being half ghost, he could change outfits!) and watched it vanish on the floor. He smiled. He knew that it would reappear when he next went ghost. Carefully, he unhooked the sleek, gentlemanly outfit from the hanger and slid into the pants of the tux. It took him a good ten minutes of examining the 18 different shirt pieces for Danny to finally call out in a whimpery, slightly scared, half-whine of a cry. “SaaaaAAAAAaaam…?”

 

Sam sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose momentarily as Tucker snorted. “What, Danny?”

 

“How do you do the shirt?” He asked, stepping from the closet with the shirt, jacket and other items in hand. Meanwhile, Danny himself was completely topless, showing off the fact that the skinny teenage halfa was nothing but muscle. Like skin poured over metal, not an inch of fat between them. Danny’s torso was also completely covered in criss-crossed white scars, like a gruesome spider’s web, burn marks and slash scars, even some sloppy stitch scars from his early days. 

 

“Uh-uhm…” Sam blushed, and Tucker’s jaw dropped. Even he hadn’t been expecting Danny to be completely ripped and scarred up. “F-first off, the white shirt goes on…” She took a deep breath, standing up and walking over to Danny, assisting him put on the many, many pieces to his suit. She stepped back, admired him for a second, then leaned over, grabbing a tailcomb and straightening some of the more frizzy hairs on his white fringe. Then she really admired him, her left arm crossed on her stomach, her right elbow resting on her left hand, right hand balled into a fist to support her tilted head, eyes scrutinizing every inch of him. “Hm… What do you think Tucker?”

 

“I think he looks pretty much like a Phantom in a suit.” Tucker looked up from his PDA. “Admitted, he makes a very hot Phantom in a suit, but he’s a Phantom in a suit.”

 

“Tucker!” Danny barked, pointing a finger at his friend. “Can you not? You’re letting your gay show again.” Danny reprimanded, ending in a flat note.

 

“Sorry man, hard to deny what is in front of me.” Tucker shrugged with a smirk. Danny blushed laser red, looking down to shuffle his white boots on the floor. Somewhere in the background, Sam said ‘Rrrrrroasted’, pulling out the ‘r’.

 

“Ok, so other than to make me blush like an idiot, why do you have me in a tux?” He asked, adjusting the neon green tie they had put on him.

 

“Simple.” Sam shrugged. “Making sure it fits you.”

 

“Ok, but why?” He asked again, glaring at them. 

 

“Again, simple. You’re taking your sister to the dance.”

 

“Isn't that creepy? A brother taking his sist-”

 

“It’s not going to be you in that suit, idiot. It’ll be Phantom. Just like it is now.” Sam gave a devilish grin.

 

“...I like this plan.”

 

^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^

 

The very next day, Danny took a long, deep breath and pressed ‘call.’

 

After two rings, his sister picked up. “You are currently speaking to Jasmine Fenton, how can I help you?” She said in a bold, slightly uncaring tone that told to exactly how much she was actually paying attention to whoever was calling her. 

 

“Heya Jazz.” Danny replied. 

 

“Oh fu-” Jazz began to curse, a loud clatter and then pages hitting the floor as a flurry of paper flew around her. Danny waited, arms half-crossed, looking at the ceiling of Sam’s room just to pass the time. Somewhere in the background of the papers he heard Jazz vaguely say, ‘tit-balls on a tricycle covered in shit’.

 

“How’s it going Danny?” Sam asked. 

 

“Well, my parents aren't home.” Danny responded, covering the receiver.

 

“How do you know that?” Sam looked honestly confused. 

 

“Because Jazz is only ever creative with her language when they aren't home. Serious, she’s worse than a Halo server on X-Box Live.” Danny grinned, knowing that he was a-ok to ask Jazz now. “I scared her and made her knock over her stuff.”

 

“Ok… Jesus fucking Christ… Danny, what do you need?” Jazz finally said.

 

“Heya big sis. Wondering what your plans for senior prom were.” Danny leaned against a wall, tapping his foot.

 

“...I wasn’t going to go.” She growled back, sounding like she was sweeping up papers.

 

“Oh? Why not?” Danny managed somehow to sound genuinely confused. 

 

“Couldn’t get a date. Going to study instead.” She replied shortly, answers clipped and angry. 

 

“Really? Because I have a friend who wants to go with you.”

 

“What?!” Danny smirked. He had Jazz’ full attention now. 

 

“Yeah, you might know him. Mr. P. Antom?”

 

Silence. A full five minutes of silence.

 

Then; “Danny, no.”

 

“Danny yes.”

 

“I can’t go with my younger brother!”

 

“It won’t be your younger brother. It will be Mr. P. Antom.”

 

“Really, I can stay home and study.”

 

“Nope,” Danny popped the ‘p’. “You spend too much time staying home and studying. You’re going to the prom, and Phantom is your date.”

 

Silence. 

 

“...Get your skinny, sorry excuse for a ghost hunter ass back to this god damn house right now. And bring the rest of Team Fucktom.” 

 

And with that, she hung up. 

 

Danny let out a long breath, lowering the phone. 

 

“How did that go?” Tucker grinned. 

 

“...She wants my ‘skinny, sorry excuse for a ghost hunter ass back to this goddamn house right now.’” Danny made a ton of airquotes. Tucker snickered, and Sam let a wide smile break out across her face. 

 

“Anything else?” Sam asked, going to stand up.

 

“Yeah… She said ‘bring the rest of Team Fucktom.’” 

 

All three of them stood in dead silence for a moment, then Danny made a tiny ‘snrk’ noise.

 

All three of them burst into cackling laughter, gripping their stomachs to maintain a semblance of control. 

 

“A-a-alright!” Tucker laughed, trying not to collapse to the floor. “Team Fucktom, assemble!” 

 

^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^

 

“Hello?” Danny asked as he walked into the house, Sam and Tucker close behind. 

 

Out of nowhere, Jazz shot out and hugged him tightly, gripping him around the chest and lifting him a bit off the floor. “Thank you! Thankyouthankyouthankyou thank you!” She hissed gratefully, crushing her smaller brother’s ribcage. 

 

“Ow, ok, yes, I get it that you love me Jazz, but stop trying to kill me deader, please!” Danny tried to struggle away again. 

 

“Ohmygoddannyimsogladthatmommademydresswithmenow!” She said rapidly. 

 

“Wait… What?” He asked as she put him back on the ground. 

 

“Yeah! It’s supposed to be that slim-fitting thing with the accents that look like they’re made of ectoplasm? It’s also mostly black and white too! Okokokok… Keep it together…” She told herself.

 

“I’ll pick you up at 7?” Danny asked with a small shrug.

 

“Yes, that’s awesome. Thank you so much, little brother.” She hugged him again, then ran off, squealing. 

 

“Danny, give me your phone.” Sam growled. “Trust me, you’re going to need to keep up a good image at this thing. I'll keep you smiling.” She grinned, and snatched Danny's phone from his outstretched hand, glaring at it momentarily before typing something and returning it. “We’ll have your back.”

 

Danny slipped the phone back in his pocket. “Thanks you guys. Just uhh… Thanks.” He gave them one last grin. 

 

“Well, we better go back home. You have fun.” Sam smirked. “Pick up the tux at my house. I'll be expecting you at 6:30.” Sam stepped out of the threshhold, and dragged Tucker with her. “Night Danny.” 

 

“Goodni-” Danny cut off as a whisp of blue escaped his lips, in close timing with a cold spike in his stomach, the icy slash that ran up his spine, the feeling of his throat briefly numbing as he tensed up. “Aw shit…” He growled.

 

“Who is it?” Sam asked. 

 

Danny thought about that for a second, focusing on the way the energy had moved through him. Tingly, with a distinct taste of lemon. “Technus.” He hissed, eyes flashing green. “Have a good night you guys. I'll handle the idgit.”

 

“Dude, what kind of word is ‘idgit’?” Tucker snickered as Danny stalked out of the house, heading for the alley.

 

“Cross between idiot and nugget!” Danny called over his shoulder as he turned the corner into the alley, a flash of light echoing from it. “In fact…” Danny smirked, reappearing a solid foot off the ground, running a hand slowly through his white fringe, casually rubbing his eye as he did so. “I’d say it describes Technus perfectly.”

 

“-nd I, Technus, master of all things electronic, will now proceed to-”

 

“Explain your plan so that I can kick you into next week faster?” Danny requested innocently as he floated closer to the electrical based ghost, arms folded sleekly behind his back, his white-gloved hands crossed and the one gripping to the other’s wrist. His ghostly tail had already appeared, flicking pleasantly below him.

 

“Ghost boy!” Technus gasped. “I, Technus, had hoped that you would be out tonight! It appears Ember did not distract you today!”

 

“She tried.” Danny hissed, righting himself from his relaxed, tilted float and folding his arms. “I kicked her back to the Ghost Zone at 3.” He lied well, because he hadn’t really kicked her back. They had a nice conversation and then she waved goodbye and left. Danny laced his fingers, flipped his hands back and extended his elbows, cracking his knuckles and fingers before pulling his hands to the side, getting into a fighting position. His white gloves balled into fists, lighting up an electrical green with a distinctive crackle. 

 

Sam smirked. Danny had gotten a lot better with one of his newest abilities. Phantasmal electricity, a dangerous form of his ecto-blasts that had him accidentally shorting out computers and other electrical equipment. Oh and zapping people randomly. It was like an extra strong static discharge. 

 

“Well then I, Technus, master of all electronics shall do what that incompetent child failed to do!” The crazy scientist ghost raised one hand, preparing to strike at Danny. 

 

“Really? You called Ember a child?” Danny asked with a laugh, dodging the first blast of green plasma. 

 

“You do not even know her, ghost boy! She was the newest ghost before you.” Technus shot another few blasts, Danny curling around each of them with the grace of a aerial snake. 

 

“And you are the oldest idgit.” Danny sighed, and unleashed a torrent of energy, green electricity sparking from his fingers in a wave, arcing forward and ramming into Technus’ chest, throwing the other ghost away, over a building. “See you tomorrow, guys!” Danny waved at his friends before diving over the roof, fingers once again crackling with pent up energy.

 

^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^

 

It was three minutes to 7 when a very, very well dressed ghost landed in front of a family of famous ghost hunters, gently letting a small, fancily painted metal board rest on the ground beside him. 

 

His well brushed hair shone in the setting sun, illuminating his already-glowing face. The slim-fitting tuxedo shimmered in the half-light, the pin near his right breast glinting orange, setting the white logo ablaze in reflective orange. A small white box was gently held near his chest, hiding the stunning green and silver wrist corsage that he had bought for his date to this dance. 

 

It was kind of like a Romeo and Juliette thing, their date. He, a ghost boy, feared and hated by many. 

 

Her, the stunning daughter of the most deadly ghost hunters in their realm. 

 

_ That was poetic… _ Danny reflected briefly, taking a deep breath and knocking at the door. 

 

“I’ll get it dad!” Jazz’ voice rang clear across the entryway. “It’s probably my date!” 

 

“I can’t wait to meet your mystery man, Jazzy Pants.” Danny smiled as his dad spoke, dimming his ghostly aura to a nothing as Jazz opened the door. 

 

“Ah, my lady…” Danny said in a slight accent to disguise his ghostly echo. “Still the brightest star, even in the early evening.” He took her hand, giving it a gentle kiss. He had rehearsed this with Sam about 8000 times, but it didn't make it any less awkward doing it to his sister. 

 

“O-oh Phil…” Jazz blushed deeper than her red hair, looking away briefly. “Th-thank you.” Danny hadn't told Jazz any of his one-liners before this, so he was getting some honest reactions. 

 

“Anything for you, my star.” Danny smiled, and drew the corsage out of it’s box, gently looping it around his sister’s right wrist, letting the bunch of flowers settle against her skin. He turned to his parents. “And to the madam and sir… Good evening.” He made a soft bow, trying not to laugh at the looks of genuine shock on his parent’s faces. 

 

“...Jazz, I like your taste in men.” Mom said to the older girl. “Good to meet you, 

Mr. Antom.” My mom held out her hand for a shake.

 

“The pleasure is all mine, Mrs. Fenton.” Danny smiled gently, and took her hand, giving a light shake. Then he turned to his dad. “And the well-renowned Mr. Fenton, it is nice to meet you as we-” Danny was cut off as his dad swept him up in a crushing hug. Miraculously, his suit stayed relatively unrumpled as the bear of a man set the ghost back on his feet. 

 

“And it is nice to finally meet you as well, Mr. Antom. I’d just like you to know, we’d like Jazmine back at the house at 11, 11:30 at the latest.”

 

“And so she will be home then.” Danny smiled, and shook his dad’s hand properly. “Thank you for allowing her to come at all tonight.” He did another small bow.  _ I owe Sam big for all those drills.  _ He thought briefly, then he took his sister’s hand as they went down the steps. 

 

“Have a good time you two!” His mom called before they shut the door.

 

Instantly Jazz burst out laughing. Then Danny did too. 

 

“O-oh my god, they took it!” She cackled, shaking her head. Then she sighed, and looked over at him. “Alright,  _ Phil Antom _ …” She smirked. “How are we getting there?”

 

“Well…” Danny picked up the metal plate by the side, placing it on the ground beside them. “I figured if you were going with Danny Phantom, you might as well arive by flight.” He grinned, and stepped on the back of the plate, holding out his hand. “M’lady.” With a jokey smirk on his face, he held out a hand. 

 

“My god do you dish it out…” Jazz snickered as she took his hand and stepped onto the board. “Now, how are you getting this thing off the ground?” She asked. 

 

“Pretty easily.” He said with a smile, and covered both of them and the board in a ghostly aura, then he focused on flying, and suddenly, the board was half a foot in the air. 

 

“Whoa!” Jazz laughed as they lifted higher and higher, right before shooting off, in the direction of the high school. “This is way better than walking, or the bus!” She smiled, looking around at the houses she was flying high overtop of. 

 

After some five minutes of flying, Danny lowered them to the ground in front of the school, ignoring the stares of stunned teens as  _ Danny fucking Phantom _ stepped from a hover board, holding out his hand to assist  _ Jasmine Fenton _ from the board before she took his arm, and he lead them inside.

 

After passing their tickets to the shocked man at the counter, Danny and Jazz tried to look dignified as they strutted through the crowed of gobsmacked teenagers to the bar. Moments earlier, the place had been filled with dancing. Now, anyone they passed was instantly forced to do a double take, and then just stare. Danny and Jazz sat down at the drink counter, where Jazz ordered a Pina Colada (Everything here was virgin. Much to Jazz’ dissapointment.) and Danny ordered a Dr. Pepper. After placing a dollar in the tip jar with the money for the drinks, Danny turned around and took a long sip of the caffinated beverage. 

 

“You almost drained that one go! You ok?” Jazz asked, tilting her head. 

 

“Just fine!” Danny laughed. “I just had a long night with Technus.” He shrugged, and took another sip. “I need the caffeine to kick in.” He looked into his glass.

 

“Wow. Being a ghost hunter must be hard.” Jazz looked at him curiously. Then he realized that two teens he didn't recognize had sat behind her. She was playing to the audience. 

 

_ Clever girl… _ He thought, before replying. “Ah, as a ghost myself, I prefer ghost fighter. I don’t track them down, I just try to make sure no one gets hurt.” He smiled, and took another drink. 

 

“I'm really sorry that my parents shoot at you all the time. You were very nice to come to the prom with me.” She gave him a soft smirk, and he knew that sentence was entirely truthful.

 

“Oh, I’m just a little ghosty who cares too much.” He shrugged. “Besides, I have no idea how you didn’t get a date! I mean, anyone foolish enough to say no to you must not be a person with brains or a thing for them.” He smirked as well as one of the guys behind her winced.  _ Yeah that’s what you get for turning down my big sister, assholes! She shows up with a kick-ass ghost! _ He thought.

 

“Still, I'm glad you care.” She looked away with a slight blush. “We’d be in a lot of danger without you.” 

 

“Anytime, m’lady.” He joked again, and they both burst out laughing. 

 

“Oh my god, Jazz? Is that you?” A girl’s voice rose over the crowd. “I thought you weren’t coming!” A tall, brown-haired girl with light blue eyes in a white dress came over to them, smiling the whole way as she lead her date, blond with brown eyes. 

 

“I wasn’t going to, but then I got an ask to go with.” She stood up, and Danny did as well. “Victor, Amelia, I’d like you to meet Phantom.” She introduced him to her friends. Both of them gawked at him briefly before he extended his hand.

 

“It’s a pleasure to meet you.” Danny smiled as Victor took his hand and shook it unsteadily. 

 

“Oh my god Jazz!” Amelia gasped, her white dress fluttering as she whipped to face Jazz again. “How in the world did you get  _ Danny Phantom  _ on a date with you?!”

 

“I didn’t.” Jazz laughed. “He’s the one who asked me!” The couple gaped at him for a few more seconds before he replied.

 

“What’s wrong?” He laughed. “I might be a ghost, but that’s not to say that I can’t say ‘hi’ to a pretty girl.” He smiled at them. “I assume you are Jazz’s classmates?” He asked.

 

“Y-yes! We all do psych together. Hang on, is that how you got him, Jazz? Hypnotize him or something?” Amelia glared at her.

 

His older sister burst out laughing, almost spitting her drink. “Not at all! He showed up at my window the one day and asked if I’d go to the prom with him.” Jazz explained.

 

“Well, then Phantom, I guess I might say something too; Thanks for all the things you do for the town. You really make sure that nothing bad happens to us.” 

 

“Psst, Phantom bro!” Victor leaned in. “Can I get a selfie with ya?” 

 

“Sure dude!” Danny laughed, and the pair posed briefly with the camera, Danny even flicking up a little peace sign with his fingers as they did so. 

 

“Thanks Phantom. You really keep us safe. Glad to see you here!” Victor smiled and took Amelia’s hand again. “You guys can come join us at our table if you want!” He suggested. Danny looked to Jazz, who shrugged. 

 

“Sure, we’ll come to your table.” She smiled, stepping forward… Only for some guy to bump her shoulder, making her spill her drink all over her front. “Oh!” Jazz gasped. 

 

“Hey, don’t worry.” He smiled at his sister, grabbing some paper towels and slapping another dollar onto the counter with a quick ‘Make another’ to the guy making the drinks. Then he gently grabbed Jazz’ shoulder, turning her intangible, using the paper towels to catch the messy liquid before it hit the ground. He turned her back to tangibility, put the paper towels in the garbage, and handing the new drink to Jazz. “There.” He smirked. 

 

“W-wow!” Victor gasped. 

 

“I wish I could get stains out that quickly…” Amelia laughed regretfully.

 

“Well, now that’s dealt with…” Danny grinned at his older sister. “Let’s go sit down.”

 

Amelia nodded, and lead the way to the table.

 

^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^

 

_ That was actually really fun, _ Danny realized as he and Jazz got ready to head home. Neither had danced, because that would’ve been waaaaay too awkward, and neither of them were ready for that level of craziness. Danny kicked his board off the wall and placed one foot on it, levitating it slightly. He held out his hand, which Jazz took and stepped onto the floating platform. Danny stepped up as well, and the pair whipped off into the sky. 

 

Danny landed by the door, and helped Jazz off. 

 

“Well, thanks little bro…” She whispered. “Really, thank you.”

 

“Anytime big sis.” He smiled. 

 

“Alright well, you better go change and get to Tuck’s. That’s where you said you’d be, right?” Jazz asked with a small tilt of her head. 

 

“Yeah. I’ll be fine. See ya later, sis.” He smirked, and took off, taking the board with him. 

 

“By the way, flying is awesome!” She called after her brother’s fleeting form. 

 

^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^

 

Danny phased through Tucker’s window, tucking into a ball and rolling neatly to a stop by his bed. “Heya guys!”

 

“Jeez dude!” Tucker snapped out as he jumped. Sam laughed. 

 

“You know, that was impressive. I didn't even have to use my secret weapon.” She smirked.

 

“Oh, you have a secret weapon?” Danny asked, honestly curious. 

 

“Yeah…” She smirked, and typed something into her phone. 

 

Danny’s phone made a small ‘Bing’ noise, and he pulled it out. 

 

Then he coughed painfully, and started laughing. 

 

From ‘Can Ghostboy Suck His Own Dick?’ <This is the weapon.>

 

Danny couldn't stop cackling, doubled over beside the bed. Tucker got off the bed to look at the phone as well, and burst out laughing. 

 

“THAT IS THE GREATEST THING IVE EVER READ!” Tucker shouted through his laughter. 

 

“I know, right?” Sam giggled as well. “Anyway, we should get some sleep… Come on guys…” She sighed as Danny shook off his laughter and got out of his tuxedo, hanging it up before flopping on the bed. 

 

“Yep… Let me know when a ghosty ghost shows up…” Danny flopped onto his side, and passed out.


	2. I'm Already Choking On My Blood

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Danny gets hurt. Bad.

Danny had gotten maybe 2 hours of sleep that night. School had been a mess, and he was supposed to be in detention now… and on a bus to a camp. He had completely skipped it, planning on spending a week free of school, but that wasn't working out one bit. Skulker had showed up with new upgrades, and it was up to Phantom to stop him.

 

Danny sent another blast Skulker’s way, dodging a missile shot his. 

 

“Really, that the best you got today?” He demanded in his usual banter, just as a distinctively decked out RV pulled up to the show. “Oh no…” He whispered, and looked away just briefly. 

 

“Worried about them, Ghost child?” Skulker growled. 

 

“Why do you think I care so damn much about people in this town?!” Danny barked, and shot for the hunter, ectoblasts blazing in his palms. 

 

“Well played, ghost child…” Skulker admitted before shooting a missile at the halfa. 

 

“GHOST BOY!!” He heard his dad yell, and Danny did a neat backwards roll to avoid Skulker’s missile… But he missed the second one. It cut a long, bloody tear up his chest, causing Danny to let out a choked cry, falling backward. 

 

“Phantom!” He heard Jazz shout as he tried to right himself, to fly again, but all that he managed to do was crash to the pavement, a wicked crack sounding from his right leg. He swallowed another screech, just as Skulker’s boot crashed into his ribs, a few small snaps echoing as his ribs broke like twigs under the heavy kick. 

 

Jack and Maddie, even being hunters, couldn't help but wince as Phantom flew over the pavement, landing with a sickening crunch and rolling, widening the tear down his front. Even so, Phantom made several attempts to stand, ending when he struggled to his feet, shook his head, spraying green droplets of ectoplasm onto the gravel, before taking off again, shooting for Skulker. “BRING IT ON!” Danny howled, bordering on a Wail, before Skulker backhanded him into a building. 

 

Jazz winced. “Fuck this…” She growled under her breath. 

 

For three weeks now, she had been practicing. She really wanted to be a bigger part of Team Phantom, and that involved her learning to shoot a blaster with the accuracy of a sniper.  _ That’s something Dad can invent. _ She thought.  _ A Fenton Ghost Rifle. _ The teen stepped between her parents, snatching their ecto-pistols from their holsters, taking one in each hand. She swirled them around her fingers briefly, before letting off shot after shot at Skulker. Instantly, the metal ghost snarled, shielding his face and backing away from the battered and broken Phantom. 

 

“Away from him, Skulker!” She barked, not stopping her brutal assault on the other ghost, the green flashes illuminating his body, even in the bright evening light. For a second, both her parents stood in dead shock. 

 

Here was their elder daughter, who had, up until this point, held no obvious interest in the family business. Now though, she circled a dangerous ghost with a determined, yet casual look to her face, pelting it with very, very accurate green shots from their own weapons, previously in their holsters. “F-fools with lasers should not be allowed to shoot!” Skulker barked, still guarding his face.

 

“Lazyr, hm?” Jazz considered. “I like that…”

 

Skulker made a distinctly furious noise, only for Jazz pop him one in the foot. He howled, and Phantom sat up, shaking his head. He was very barely keeping upright, but it didn't stop him from raising a Thermos and sucking in Skulker, panting. Jazz looked up at him with concern etched onto her face.

 

Danny looked down, dazed. Slowly, he flew down and landed in front of Jazz, holding out the thermos. She took it. 

 

“Th...thanks…” He mumbled before taking off and vanishing into the sky.

 

“...Dammit…” Jazz hissed under her breath. She walked back to her parents and returned their ecto pistols. “Sorry that they’re out of charge.” She growled. 

 

Her parents, in numb shock, got into the front of the car as Jazz crept into the back. The older Fenton child sat down on the bench on the left side and buried her face in her hands.  _ Be safe, Danny… _

 

^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^

 

It was midnight when Maddie started patrol. Sure, she didn't normally, but Phantom was out there and he was always dangerous. Plus, she needed some time to think. 

 

_ My daughter just shamelessly and easily beat the shit out of a ghost.  _

 

Jazz had never been interested in the family business, and it sometimes made Maddie wonder if Jazz sympathized with ghosts. 

 

Still, it was Phantom she was thinking about tonight.

 

First off, ghosts don't have bones, and yet Phantom had to have something breakable in his body, because something broke. Second, Phantom felt pain, not a common thing for ghosts. In fact, there were very few ghosts who could register pain. 

 

She could’ve gone on for hours, listing Phantom’s weirdness, but instead, her thoughts were distracted by a single noise, echoing from a nearby alley. Maddie reached her hand down, fingers curling gently around the handle of her ecto-pistol, gripping tightly to the black handle. She crept forward, eyes roving for any sign of life at all, maybe even a ghost…

 

Then she saw it.

 

The trail of ectoplasm, glowing a light green across the pavement. Dribbled, like blood, along the black road. Maddie’s head cocked, and she started walking down the path, following the broken spatters of green on the ground. It was rather fresh, the green still glowing, casting a small lime sheen across the black concrete. As she kept following the trail, the splatters got thicker, a few times even the treads of…

 

_ Was that a hazmat footprint? _ Maddie asked herself, staring at the oval shape, the smooth, even-lined tread marks slightly scuffed in the next footprint, like whoever made it had been staggering. The ectoplasm was getting really thick now, laying in gobs and puddles on the dusty alleyway ground. Maddie skirted the pools of it, feeling like she was trespassing now, like something lived here and she was creeping into it’s lair. Carefully, she kept her eyes out, roving around the area curiously. There had been a ghost fight nearby, and there was a ghost hiding here. An injured ghost.

 

_ Likely to be temperamental, more so than usual, probably irritable, and vengeful. If I find it, I'll shoot it first. _ She thought, science brain taking over.

 

She looked to her left slightly, and stopped. 

 

There was a bloody, smeared handprint that lay on the wall, ectoplasm dribbling down the siding, green and glowing, illuminating the shadows under the overlap of the plastic sheeting. The ectoplasmic trail had gotten closer to the wall as well. Quickly, she danced over to the other side of the wall.  _ The ghost was close to collapsing when it arrived here… Must be pretty hurt to lose that much ectoplasmic energy that quickly.  _ She thought, examining closer now. The ectoplasmic trail ended about five feet away, where it ducked behind a dumpster, shielding the ghost from view. 

 

Mostly.

 

Maddie now saw the very, very faint glow on the wall behind the dumpster, giving notice to how weak the ghost was. She drew her pistol and whipped around the corner of the disposal container, ignoring the smell. And she just about dropped the pistol.

 

There was Danny Phantom, the ghost boy, worshipped by so many ‘Phangirls’ and admirers. 

 

Maddie knew it was a crock of shit. 

 

But here was Phantom, and not in the best shape either. 

 

His right leg had some kind of slightly glowing greenish bone sticking from the top of his lower leg, a long, brutal tear up the front of his body, the unconscious (??) ghost breathing in wheezy, sharp pants. He was littered in scrapes and scratches, completely and totally wasted, leaning against the wall as he bled ectoplasm onto the concrete. 

 

Quickly, Maddie pointed her gun at him, at his head.  _ KILL HIM!  _ She screamed at herself, but something stopped her. 

 

She convinced herself that it was just the amount of good studying material right here, (I mean, he’s unconscious, has some form of bones, and he’s still injured. The fight was hours ago. He had to be different.) but it was really the hunter’s morals in her chest, weighing on her thoughts. She wasn't the one to injure Phantom, and she wouldn't be the one to kill him. But there was another feeling there too.

 

Maybe it was the way that Phantom’s face was tightened in pain, emphasized only by his harsh breathing, or the half curled position that reminded her all too much of her son, but one way or another, she couldn't kill him. Instead, she holstered her weapon and crept closer to the ghost, laying a hand on his shoulder. Phantom groaned softly, but made no other movement. Maddie shook his shoulder a bit, and he winced badly, but he still didn't wake up. 

 

She knelt down and slid her one arm under Phantom’s knees, the other around his back and shoulders, softly picking him off the pavement, raising the exhausted, weakened ghost into her arms, leaning him onto her chest as she did so. Phantom weakly slumped against her, offering no resistance. For a ghost, he was surprisingly heavy. Admitted, lighter than if he were human, but still heavy. She looked down at him for a moment, examining his face. He was so much like Danny it was amazing.  _ Maybe he used Danny as a base model? _ She wondered, looking down through the strands of his ectoplasm-soaked white hair to his distinctly tan features, which shocked Maddie.  _ How does a ghost even make that color? _ She asked herself, watching every twitch and motion of his very young-looking face. His eyebrows were scrunched up in a pained frown. She shifted her grip, carrying much more gently than she was before, and he relaxed.

 

Letting out a sigh, Maddie walked into the Fenton Family Ghost Assault Vehicle, carefully laying Phantom on her lap so she could keep a close watch on him, and started the car, driving for home.

 

^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^

 

When she did finally get home, Maddie picked Phantom off her lap and walked inside, using her butt to open the handle of the door. Jazz was sitting on the couch, doing research when she walked in.

 

“Oh my god!” Jazz burst out, dropping her pen when she saw Phantom in her mother’s arms. 

 

“Jazz quiet. He’s unconscious and I’d like him to stay that way.” Maddie returned, and Jazz shut up, but she got off the couch and helped her mother lay Phantom onto it. Maddie stepped back. “Amazing… He appears to be unconscious, a state ghosts cannot enter.” She tilted her head, examining the bleeding Phantom.

 

“Mom, dammit, where did you leave the first aid kit!” Jazz barked, racing around the room until she found the kit. Quickly, she tied up Phantom’s injuries, laying the bone back in his leg and cleaning his cuts. Then she returned the kit to it’s place. “Mom, he could’ve died!”

 

“Oh Jazz, that was a nice gesture, but he can’t feel pain. He’s just a ghost.” Maddie shrugged, taking notes on a pad she had grabbed. “Just a reaction of ectoplasm and consciousness. Doesn't matter to him.”

 

“Ugh, can you at least make sure he doesn't die?!” Jazz snarled, and stormed to the kitchen to get herself some coffee. When she returned, all that her mother had done was lay a thin blanket over Phantom’s lower body while she listened to his rough breathing and heartbeat. 

 

“Amazing…” She said, gently pressing on his chest. 

 

“Mom!” Jazz snapped. Maddie jerked back. “He’s hurt! And do you call that thing a blanket? My god…” She stomped out of the room again, and returned with a large bag under her arm and a thick, fuzzy blanket. She dropped them on the floor, then walked out again. The whole time, Maddie flitted around Phantom, examining every inch of him, ignoring the ghost’s unconscious winces of pain. 

 

“This is amazing, Jazz! He’s like an entire different species of specter!” Maddie gasped. 

 

Jazz rolled her eyes. This was her  _ brother _ , for Christ’s sake. “Come on, just help me wake him up…” She had walked back in with a large, ‘U’ shaped pillow from ages ago. The pillow was grey and fluffy, covered in soft white fur, and in her other hand she held a moist towel. “Serious, it’ll be better to study him if we can get him healed. I'm sure he’d do whatever you wanted.” Jazz said, playing on her parent’s ghost scientist side.

 

“You’re right Jazz. We’ll keep Phantom for a while. Like a pet!” Maddie grinned. Jazz did a quick facepalm before handing the washcloth to her mother. 

 

“Well, I was thinking that he might actually be able to go to ghost sleep or whatever.”

 

“Jazz, that’s impossible.” Maddie smiled, patting Phantom’s face with the cloth. 

 

_ That’s what you think… _ Jazz thought, unrolling the sleeping bag. 

 

That’s when the dulled, formerly toxic green eyes of Phantom opened, gazing semi-blindly about the room. “Mmph…” He made a small noise, blinking in the newfound light. Maddie inhaled sharply, wondering if the ghost would now lunge at Jazz, who was a lot closer than she was to Phantom. Jazz just looked up at Phantom, checking him over for a second before she opened the top of the sleeping bag. 

 

“You know, I saw him do this trick to another ghost once…” Jazz remarked, then she did a kind of sweeping motion, and scooped Phantom into the bag with a surprised squawk. 

 

“H-hey! What the hell?” Phantom demanded, kicking weakly around in the bottom of the bag. Maddie grinned.  _ The great Phantom, thwarted by a sleeping bag! _ She would’ve laughed if that wouldn’t’ve endangered her daughter.

 

Instead, Jazz herself laughed. Maddie’s heart stopped. To some ghosts, laughing was a battle cry, or a danger warning. Phantom though, made no reaction to the laughter, and Jazz set him back on the couch, where the weakened ghost struggled to pop his head out of the thick, warm material. Finally, he pushed out of it, looking a lot like a cat who had gotten stuck under a blanket. His hair was roughed up, frizzed and fluffed, sticking every-which-way as his green eyes peeped from the dark fabric, peeking from his white hair. 

 

Jazz snickered into her hand at the look on his face of slight annoyance and exhaustion. 

 

_ Can a ghost even get tired? _ Maddie asked herself as Phantom yawned (Rather adorably, to be honest) and curled his face slightly into the sleeping bag, letting only his messy white hair peek out from the fabric. 

 

Maddie stared at him briefly before sitting on the coffee table nearest to the ghost and taking notes.  _ Slowed breathing? He doesn't seem as stressed now…  _ She considered, watching the way his chest rose and fell under the covers.  _ Waitaminute, ghosts don't breathe!  _ She jerked back, then held her hand in front of Phantom’s face. Indeed, there was a repeated cold wind on her hand… Like the ghost was breathing. 

 

“How does that work?” She asked aloud, looking him over. “That shouldn't work…”

 

“What shouldn’t work?” Jazz asked from the kitchen.

 

“Phantom should not breathe, or have bones, or feel pain. Yet he appears to do all three.” Maddie said, tilting her head at the sleeping specter. “And he shouldn't sleep either. Or be able to take...comfort...in temperature…” She slowed down her speech as she watched Phantom scrunch up a bit in his sleep, the blanket falling off his shoulder. As that happened, Jazz casually swept the edge of the fabric sleeping bag back over his shoulder, tucking it behind his back. Phantom made an unconscious, contented hum, and snuggled a little deeper into his tiny nest. “...Jazz, why did you do that?”

 

“Do what?” Jazz replied, laying out her books again, on the other couch. There was amazingly, some extra credit work here… On ghosts.

 

“You… Put the blanket back on him.” Maddie cocked her head. You didn't just do acts of kindness to a ghost, as far as she was concerned.

 

“Um, yeah..?” Jazz replied, glancing up from her work.

 

“Why though? Does he remind you of your brother?”

 

“No,” Jazz expertly lied. “I've been doing my own research on ancient ghosts. They can’t feel as wide a range of emotions as we can, but ghosts do experience the base four of all emotions.” She picked up a psychology book and compared it with a book called ‘Spirits and Specters: A guide to ghosts.’

 

“And the base four are..?” Maddie asked, still staring at Phantom.

 

“Sadness, anger, joy and fear. All emotions stem from those four.” She shrugged, underlining something. “Think about it. All ghosts show them.”

 

Maddie thought hard, and realized that yes, every ghost showed those emotions. “But then…” She glared at Phantom harder. “Phantom also displays empathy, regret, disgust…”

 

“I don’t know mom, I'm not the expert. Some kind of new species maybe?” Jazz suggested, looking up at her mother.

 

“Jazz that’s it! Guard Phantom, I'm going to look up information on emotive ghosts! I owe you for this!” Maddie gasped as she shot for the basement. 

 

As an afterthought, Jazz shouted after her; “Invent a ghost rifle!” The elder Fenton girl giggled into her hand, then shook Phantom’s shoulder. “Danny, wake up!” She hissed at her brother, who gradually blinked back to reality. 

 

“Mnph…” He groaned, looking up at her. “J-Jazz? Where am I?”

 

“What do you last remember?” She demanded. 

 

“Passing out in an alley, then waking up for a few minutes in a black place, before there was lots of light and noise, and I passed out again.” He listed.

 

“You’re at home. Mom found you.” Jazz looked at the door to the basement, making sure that her parents weren't coming up. “Don’t worry, I used a little psych on her. Also, I finally came up with a name.” She smirked, knowing that Danny probably kept tabs on her ghost practice. 

 

“Oh?” Danny asked, slowly trying to sit up, as his sister kept him down. 

 

“Lazyr. L-A-Z-Y-R.” She grinned. “And I might’ve given Mom the idea to build a ghost rifle.” 

 

“That’s great Jazz… Now help, please?” He begged, trying to get free of the sleeping bag. 

 

“No, you need to heal. You are technically supposed to be gone this week, remember?” Jazz reprimanded, offering no assistance.

 

“Yeah, well, I don't feel like sticking around… I shouldn't be saying that in my own damn household.” Danny looked down, stopping his struggles.

 

“It’s true… But so long as you don’t shift out of Phantom, you should be fine.” Jazz looked up again, focusing on the basement door.

 

“So I'm stuck here for a week?” Danny hissed, eyes flashing. “I'm a ghost! They just want me… For experiments.” He rubbed his injured arm, testing the wound.

 

“Well, I've convinced mom that emotive ghosts might exist now. They did before too.” She patted her brother’s head. “Just take a rest. You can sleep in Phantom form, you’ve done it before. Keep doing it, maybe?” She patted him again, then sat back with her book. Sensing that the argument was over, Danny lay back, closing his eyes again, settling back into sleep. 

 

^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^

 

Danny groaned awake just slightly at the feeling of warm light on his face. The sun was up. And he was still ghost. 

 

Just before shifting out, he managed to remember that  _ oh wait, _ he was supposed to stay in that form. Tilting his head out of the sunshine, he prepared to go back to sleep (Hey man, healing in ghost form takes energy!) when his father shot forward.

 

“GHOST!! MADDIE HE MOVED!!” Jack roared excitedly, making Danny wince. He had clearly given himself a concussion of some kind. 

 

“Can you not shout please?” Danny asked, his voice scratchy and gravelly. Everything ached vaguely, and his head throbbed.

 

“MADDIE HE TALKED!!” Jack shouted again. Danny growled, and managed to rather painfully flip over. “HE MOVED AWAY FROM ME DOES HE FEAR ME?!”

 

“No, dad, it’s that you’re shouting and it’s probably hurting him.” Jazz glared down her father, walking into the room with a cup of coffee. 

 

“Oh…” His dad said. Danny tensed, waiting for an apology, but he wasn't surprised when he didn't get one. “Well, he is awake.”

 

“That’s it…” Jazz muttered, rolling her eyes. 

 

As Maddie walked into the room with a whole bunch of non-lethal instruments, Danny gulped. 

 

It was going to be a long, long day.

 

^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^

 

Danny had been trying to get a few hours of sleep before the next day of his parents poked and prodded at his ghost form again, when Jazz shook him awake.

 

“Go. Go now.” She snarled. 

 

“Wh-wha-?” Danny blinked, shaking his head in shock. 

 

“Get out of the house. Run. Go hide in Tucker’s attic like you planned. That looked torturous. Get out.”  She unzipped the sleeping bag and threw it off him. 

 

“U-um…” Danny stood up, stretching his stiff legs. 

 

“Why are you still here?” Jazz hissed, shoving him toward the door. “I'm not letting that happen to you again. Go, run!” She pushed him into the doorway, and handed him a backpack, mostly by slamming it into his chest and saying ‘get out of this fucking house.’

 

Danny phased through the door with a quick thanks and flew straight to Tucker’s house. 

 

The next week he spent curled in Tucker’s attic, his best friend’s secret hideout. 

 

Danny himself doubted that Mr and Mrs Foley even knew that their son had a fucking  _ computer database  _ that rivaled a government supercomputer. (Not really but it looked like that.) It was really spectacular, Tucker having ‘taken’ parts from the dump, or bought old computers to make his whole man cave. 

 

The attic was Tucker’s pride and joy. 

 

Danny, still rather weak, curled on one of the beanbags in the corner and passed out. 

 

He would’ve been perfectly fine with not waking up that entire week.

 

And so he didn't.

 

^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^

 

One week in ghost sleep was more than enough for him. He had completely healed by the time that a small shake woke him up. 

 

“Wha-” He said slowly, blinking in the half-light, trying to get his eyes to refocus.

 

Tucker appeared in front of him. “Dude, why the fuck are you bleeding, sleeping, in the Brain?!” He asked in a furious growl. ‘The Brain’ was what they decided to refer to the database as. 

 

“I'm not bleeding anymore, these are days old…” He mumbled tiredly. He felt like he hadn't slept in a week, which was funny because the opposite was true. “When is it, precisely?” 

 

“We got home about 5 minutes ago, so if you want to be home at an acceptable time, leave now!” Tucker snapped. Instantly, Danny shot awake. 

 

“Shitshitshit!” He whisper-shouted, struggling to get free of the old bandages, revealing the now-scarred skin underneath. “Tuck, help me please!” He begged, trying to unloop his feet. Tucker dove behind him and began untying the ones around his chest. 

 

“How did this even happen?!”

 

“Long story, I’ll cut you in later!” Danny snapped, kicking off the last of the tattered gauze. “Thanks Tuck!” He shouted as he phased out of the wall, zipping for the bus that was some 10 minutes from Sam’s house. Quickly, he dove inside, located Sam, turned back into Fenton while invisible (A skill he’d made work that had taken ages to learn.) and reappeared. As he did so, he leaned back, crossed his legs, did his best to look bored, and casually put one hand over the back of the chair, behind her shoulders. He managed to do all that while trying to calm his heart that was still racing in panic, adrenaline and nerves. 

 

He reappeared, managing to calm his breathing, and turned his head to say to Sam, who was looking intensely disinterested and bored; “About time we got back from the wilderness, ‘ey?”

 

Danny, to be completely, totally honest, had been expecting Sam to know that Danny could appear and disappear at any time, but apparently not today. 

 

There are a great many things that you could describe Sam as, a little girl was not one of them, unless you wanted to be punched in the nose. 

 

However, saying that she didn’t scream like a small child would be a brutal understatement. 

 

Sam screamed, leaping a clean two feet off her seat from a dead standstill, and slapped Danny. In slight shock himself now, he fell off the seat, into the aisle of the bus. 

 

Sam looked like she was about a second and a half away from shouting at his idiotic ass, but then she seemed to remember where she was. She extended a hand. 

 

“S-sorry, phased out there for a bit… You surprised me…” She muttered clumsily as Danny took her hand, and she pulled him up. 

 

“Y-yeah, it’s fine…” They sat back in their seats, and the looks they had gotten throughout the ordeal started to drift off. 

 

The second they sat down again, Sam leaned into him and snarled into his ear. “What the fuck Danny?!?!” She hissed, glaring daggers.

 

“Give me a break, I've been in ghost hibernation for a week!” He exclaimed quietly. “I woke up literally four minutes ago!” He whispered fiercely. 

 

“Thanks for making my heart actually stop! I thought I was going to ‘go ghost!’” She muttered sarcastically. 

 

“No problem!” He replied, then saw that some people were still watching. “Hey, can a guy not talk to his girl privately?” He snapped, and everyone turned away, several blushing. 

 

“...You owe me an explanation after you get home.” 

 

“Deal.” He smiled. 

 

^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^

 

“DANNY-BOY!” His dad cried out as he walked in the door. Instantly, he was swept into a huge bear hug. 

 

“H-hey dad…” He hissed out. Thankfully, his dad placed him back on the floor. He caught sight of Jazz, studying at the kitchen table. She cast a small glance his way, cold teal eyes piercing him to the core, far colder than anything his ghost side could create. 

 

“DANNY, WE HAD PHANTOM RIGHT HERE IN THE LIVING ROOM, BUT HE LEFT JUST A WEEK AGO!!”

 

“H-he did? You had him?”

 

“YES!”

 

“O-ok that’s good to know, I'm just going to go upstairs and… Unpack!” He stuttered out, and ran upstairs. 

 

“I didn't see his backpack, did you dear?” Maddie asked.

 

“WASN’T PAYING ATTENTION, HONEY!” 

 

^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^

 

The instant he was in his room, he pulled out his phone. 5 new texts on the group chat.

 

<Ok, you two ready to know what happened this week?> He sent.

 

<Umm, yeah!> Sam replied.

 

<Damn right.> Tucker’s answer.

 

<Ok, well, it all started when Skulker showed up a day early…>


	3. Voicing Concerns Hurts People, but Screaming Works Too.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Danny has a nightmare.

The boy glanced around fearfully, ice blue eyes flicking nervously around his surroundings.

A cold, slightly snowy forest surrounded him, although his body metabolized the cold faster than any normal human. Dark shadows that, for some reason, his inhuman abilities couldn't see through, flickered under the leaves of the trees, odd whispers of a strangely cool wind flitting through the woods, sending chills up the boy’s spine.

 _That’s strange…_ He thought. _I can’t get cold, can I?_ He reflected briefly on what he was, rubbing his arms gently, his raven-black hair swept neatly to the side, although the wind threatened to disrupt it with each gentle flutter.

He looked around, trying to cut through the darkness with a piercing glare, but all that greeted his eyes were shadows.

 _This isn't good…_ He glanced about, looking for dangers or attackers, the tell-tale glow of one of his enemies, anything. The other terrifying, blood-chilling thing that the boy realized was how deadly, perfectly silent this forest was.

Even the leaves had stopped rustling, their fine-tuned, so naturally calming whispers lost to the all consuming quiet.

The boy started slowly walking, an attempt at making his way out of the forest, when the first image flashed through his head.

_Light, light, all he could see was light, blazing around him in fabulous arcs of unnaturally green energy, attacking his body with the force of a hurricane, knocking him down and drowning out his terrified, pained screaming…_

The boy staggered, briefly feeling the jolts of lightning tearing through his body before his vision flickered back to the forest, where he leaned carefully against a nearby tree.

Suddenly, he was very aware of his slow, careful, panting breaths, and the gradual, steady increase in his heart rate.

Then a branch snapped behind him.

Quickly, he whipped around, eyes seeking for the perpetrator, even if it was just a squirrel, his fringe flicking briefly over his left eye before he batted it away.

All that caught his eye was a pair of glowing, forest green and slitted eyes, tracking him as he took a few steps backward. They snapped shut and reopened, reptilian slits hidden briefly by the crisp blink, a natural reaction.

The boy on the other hand scrambled backward, hell-bent on escaping the thing that’s shadow was now slipping through the underbrush nearly silent.

He crashed through the forest which was devoid of any animal life, the dull thump-thump of his own heart pounding in his ears. His other half was inaccessible, no matter how much he tried.

As he was running, he kept flashing back.

 _Pain, electric pain, lanced down his spine, pulling him taught as a_ _thread_ _,_ _fingers and hands snapped out, flexed to their full length, strained, tendons and muscles tight as wires as he fought for control over his own extremities…_

His vision flickered again as he nearly tripped, bright lights flashing, glowing in his eyes, struggling for any way out of this forest, the repeated, careful crash of footsteps behind him calling deep into his chest, forcing his heartrate even higher.

_“Danny! DANNY!” A female voice screamed at him in terror, despite the fact that he wasn’t exactly able to hear. Everything was black and white, pain and light, blended into a perfect concoction of fear. Gradually, the pain began to dull from his mind and body, beginning to force him into a black, endless pit that would forever hold him down in the permanence of death…_

The boy gasped, scrambling away from the creature chasing him, listening to his heartbeat, a low thrum in his ears, adding to the collective headache that was growing in the forefront of his mind, casting thunderclouds over his thinking, pulling him down with it’s rain.

_“DANNY!!! Tucker, help me get this thing off… DANNY HANG ON WE’RE COMING!!” The girl’s throat was torn raw from her frenzied screams, until gradually, time and memory began to fade from the boy, his tormented body slipping to the floor, burn marks lacerating his emaciated form._

The boy’s chest heaved as he fled, feet crashing through the undisturbed woodland, the creature still gaining despite his supernatural speed and strength and the fear-fueled adrenaline rush that was coursing through his veins, forcing him even faster.

_He was left lying on the cold concrete, fear burning a line through his heart, even as his friends surrounded his smoking body, shaking him frantically, shouting his name, even as the world and it’s sounds blurred together, flowing into one another like a liquid, cloudy and smoked, just slurred sounds and colors. A call, a voice, a sound whispers through his body as he begins to fade to blackness._

_“Danny…”_ The voice hisses, coursing through him with every beat of his pounding, still alive heart.

The boy stumbled again, feeling hot breath on his back, still trying to flee from whatever was near him. Then a hard, heavy object hit his back, throwing him forward, cracking his head against a log.

 _“Danny…”_ The voice murmured again, like a breath of wind in his ear.

The forest green, slitted eyes of the animal, flecked with lighter greens, like a dappled wood, shone in fury and rage as the lips of its jaws pulled apart to reveal massive fangs in it’s newt-like jaw, right before it prepared to tear his head off, saliva dripping from its sharp teeth.

 _“Danny, listen closely…”_ The voice swirled in his head again, tugging at his heart and calling to his soul.

And the huge creature spread it’s wings behind it, long and ribbed, fanned like a bat’s.

 _“This isn’t what you want…”_ The voice whispered, even as terror fluttered like a small bird in the boy’s heart.

And the creature lunged, teeth snapping onto the boy’s face, blood spraying up as the skull broke. In an instant, the boy’s consciousness was shattered.

In the moment before that instant, he knew pain like before, from the electricity. The other time he almost died. And something called out in that last second;

_“This isn’t your future.”_

And then he woke up.

* * *

 

Danny screamed.

That was an instant, gut reaction. He screamed, without hesitation, without stopping, without thinking about who would hear, he screamed.

God he was in pain.

That had hurt his brain.

When Danny finally ran out of air in his lungs with which to scream, he lay back on his bed and hoped, prayed, that no one would come.

No such luck.

The bright orange glow of his dad’s jumpsuit glimmered as he burst through the half ghost’s door, shouting as well.

“WHERE’S THE GHOST??!” The patriarch of the Fenton family shouted at almost an equal volume to his son’s screaming.

Danny buried his face in his hands, just as his mother entered the room. “Danny, are you alright?” She ran over to his bedside and hugged her son gently. “Jack, get the Ghost Finder and search Danny’s room please.”

“GOT IT HONEY!” Jack gave his wife a thumbs up, before squeaking out of the room.

He cleaned his suit recently… Danny remembered vaguely, shaking his head, trying to clear it long enough to get in one clear thought.

“Danny, did the ghost hurt you?” Maddie asked, running a hand through his ebony hair.

“N-no mom…” Danny hissed unhappily, pissed that his voice would betray him with a stutter. “It didn’t get me. It went out the window.” He snapped.

“...Are you alright Danny?” Maddie questioned, staring at the youngest Fenton.

“Fine mom.” Danny made his voice sound semi-normal. “...Just tired, and the ghost woke me up.”

“...Ok, we’re going to go get it. Go back to sleep, Danny.” Maddie patted her son’s head, then turned around to leave.

“Yeah Danny-boy! We’re gonna get that ghost!” Jack lifted the bazooka over his shoulder and grinned. “Have a good sleep, son!”

And with that, the pair left his room.

Danny looked over at the clock. 3:19 am. _...Trust me…_ He thought. _Sleep is the farthest thing from my mind._

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I AM SO FUCKING SORRY I HAVEN'T BEEN POSTING I AM A PIECE OF SHIT OMG IM SO DAMN SORRY JIMINY FUCKING JESUS CHRIST I AM A ACTUAL TRASH CAN


	4. Exhaustion.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Danny’s tired, and Tucker gets lost at a ghost bar. 
> 
> The other potential name for this chapter was ‘The One Where Spyro Writes Nothing but Tumblr Posts and Bullshit’

Danny was exhausted. No doubt about that.

 

It had started as his usual day. Go to class for a few hours, have to vanish midway through because of a ghost (it was the Lunch Lady.). Come back to class, get interrupted at lunch (it was Ember.). Get reamed out for getting the shit kicked out of him twice that day, then go home. On the walk there, have someone threaten Sam and/or Tucker (today it was Johnny.). Then, do whatever homework/patching up he had to do, or could get done, and avoid questions from his parents before going to bed and getting interrupted at least 3-5 times that night alone. 

 

After getting his ass handed to him, signed, by Skulker, Danny, with less than 4 hours of sleep in 5 days under his belt, walked into school, hood up, shoulders slumped, forgoing his regular white t-shirt for a grey and green hoodie. One hand gripped a portable coffee mug, which was black, reading ‘Sin Fuel’ on the side (Thanks Sam.). Periodically, Danny took sips from the mug, which still seemed to disgust him.

 

Tucker caught up with the raven-haired half-ghost within seconds, closely followed by Sam. “Jesus.” Tucker exclaimed as they traversed the halls, catching sight of Danny. “You look like one of Freakshow’s freak shits.” He joked.

 

Sam laughed slightly, but Danny did little more than hum in agreement. 

 

“You alright Danny?” She asked, laying a hand on his shoulder.

 

He stopped, straightened, and slowly gave Sam a look. The look was somewhere between exasperation, exhaustion, regret, and disappointment. Like he wanted to know if she actually just asked that question. 

 

“...Y’know…” He muttered after a pregnant pause. “If I ever… meet the first person who said ‘I’ll sleep when I’m dead’, I’m going to kill them.” He sighed, and took another sip from his travel mug. Then he coughed slightly, like it burned going down. “This isn’t even coffee.” He ran a hand through his fringe, ruffling the knotted mess of hair and staring at the mug like it offended him. “It’s literally just a 12-pack of 5-Hour Energy mixed with hot chocolate powder.” 

 

There was a period of absolute quiet between the three friends as Tucker and Sam glanced worriedly between Danny and eachother, and Danny continued to glare at his mug. 

 

Then Danny took another sip.

 

“Ok, dude stop.” Tucker pulled the cup from Danny’s lips, eyes narrowed as Danny’s glare redirected itself to him. “Dude, you can’t go on like this.” 

 

“You need a break.” Sam piped up carefully as they entered the classroom.

 

“Heard that song before.” Danny let out a long, slow breath before collapsing in his seat.

 

There was a few minutes of quiet, while the class waited for Mr. Lancer to get there, and just as Danny and the gang thought everything might start out ok, someone, just because High School is full of jackasses, yelled out, “Hey Fenton, late night? You look dead!”

 

A few snickers throughout the class.

 

_ This is ok _ . Danny thought, smiling slightly.  _ I can still hold this. _

 

Then, of course, someone had to add to that. 

 

“Danny Fenton? More like Danny  _ Phantom! _ ” 

 

Silence. 

 

Dead, cold, harsh silence. 

 

The sound of 20 students not breathing filled the room. 

 

Danny’s heart nearly leapt out of his chest in panic.  _ I’m blown. I’m done! This is it, this is where I die. _

 

But Sam saved it. 

 

She started laughing, nervously at first, but it soon grew to loud, raucous laughter. “Pfft, Danny?!” She cackled. “As if!” She gave him a small punch to the shoulder. Danny smiled gratefully at her, knowing that her words were simply a ruse. 

 

“Yeah,” Snickered Tucker. “Danny, Phantom? No way. Danny couldn’t be Phantom.”

 

“I only look dead, I’m not actually.” Danny joined in. Soon, everyone was laughing, giggling at the fact that Danny, little, weak  _ Danny  _ could ever be Phantom.

 

When Lancer came in, everything went back to it’s near-silence, listening if only for fear of wrath. 

 

After class, when they sat in lunch (the ghosts had been kind enough to avoid the mortal realm that morning) Danny took a sip of his horrific hot chocolate concoction and turned to his best friends. 

 

“You know what I realized?” He questioned, not really caring for an answer, but they turned their attention to him nevertheless. 

 

“What?” Tucker returned, prompting him to continue. 

 

“Schrodinger’s cat is bullshit.” Danny proclaimed as a dull grin curved over his lips. “Really, if you want to see something that is both dead and alive, just talk to me at any point in the day.” 

 

Tucker looked at him like his head had turned into a loon, but Sam stopped chewing and pointed at him with her silver fork, light glittering over it’s chrome surface. “Danny,” She paused and swallowed. “if all today has resulted in is you making bad dead jokes all day, I will stab my fork through your dick.”

 

“Good Christ Sam!” Yelped Tucker, his hands flying protectively over his crotch. “Excessive and harsh!” 

 

“Fuck you Tucker.” She griped, pointing the fork at him too, then going back to her food.

 

Danny passed out on the table all of 4 minutes later and had a 15 minute nap before they continued onto their next class.

 

^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^

 

Danny lay in bed, trying to get energy back with a power nap before going on any patrols that night. He had fought two ghosts before school let out, and another 3 in the afternoon afterward. The opposite of fun for the tired halfa. 

 

He had been pretty much asleep until a bing-like noise rang from his side table. One hand flopped free of the blanket cocoon to grab the phone from near the lamp, drawing it to his face. 

 

A text from one ‘Delicious Dark Chocolate Man’ was on his notifications, bright and clear as day. <Danny, I’m invoking the ‘no judgements’ clause of our friendship.>

 

It took him a long, long time to figure out how to react, then longer still to reply. 

 

<My god, what did you do this time?> Danny typed, pressing send before slowly rolling free of his blankets.

 

<Got trapped in gay bar. Getting felt up by someone whos way too young to be here> Tucker’s frantic reply came in fast.  _ He even forgot the apostrophes.  _

 

<Two things; how did you get allowed in there in the first place, and what do you need me to do?> He typed one-handed as he struggled into a pair of pants. 

 

<Two answers. That’s a trade secret and I need you to pretend to be my boyfriend.>

 

“What the fu-” Danny froze in shock before falling over, almost dropping the phone if it hadn’t been for ghostly speed. <What?> He responded, trying to worm into a Twenty One Pilots T-shirt. 

 

<Look ok I escaped getting felt up by a 12 year old and people keep asking if Im interested or waiting for a date and i feel a little threatened here bro please> Danny could just about feel his panic through the phone.

 

<How the fuck did you get in, and why don’t you leave?!> He typed in as he tied his shoes.

 

<Bathroom window, and I dont feel like showing the scary bouncer that I was here without a date.>

 

<Good God Tuck, you owe me a drink.>

 

<We’re underage.>

 

<Do I look like someone who gives a single fucking shit?>

 

<Fair point. Are you coming>

 

<Yes, give me a few. Which gay bar?> Danny texted back, trying to think if there was any gay bars nearby.  _ Wait a second… _ He realized.  _ The nearest one is... _

 

<Fairpointe.>

 

Danny typed the name into Google, and just about choked. 

 

<HOW THE FUCK DID YOU GET TO THE NEXT COUNTY?!>

 

<LOOK OK I WANTED AN ADVENTURE JUST GET HERE!>

 

Danny rubbed his temples with one hand, and quickly entered Sam’s phone number with the other. “I’m going out, guys!” He called over his shoulder as the phone slipped into the crook of his neck, pressed against his ear. 

 

“This is Samantha Manson, if you have the wrong number, please hang up now.” Sam demanded coolly through the phone, the clicking of her keyboard making it clear that she was doing homework. 

 

“Sam, it’s Danny. Can you handle the siblings for the night? I have to buy some light bulbs.” 

 

Thanks to Tucker for the code. ‘Can you handle the siblings for the night’ was code for ‘Can you take care of the ghosts?’ And ‘buying light bulbs’ was code for ‘Danny’s out of the town for the night.’

 

“I can take ‘em, they’re ok if you know how to handle them. Is this about the Christmas Lights?” She returned. ‘Christmas Lights’ was Tucker’s code, ‘Porch Lights’ was for Sam, and ‘Glowsticks’ was for Danny. 

 

Danny made a dull noise of agreement. 

 

“Find the right bulbs!” Her smile was tangible through the phone, then she hung up as Danny swept out of the house, dragging his coat with him as he vanished to the night. 

 

^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^

 

When Danny landed in an alley some 20 feet from the bar, he turned back to Fenton and immediately swept forward, heading toward the bar. 

 

Even as Fenton, he remained completely invisible, unseeable to the dozens of humans who trotted past the intimidating bouncers.

 

Two of them, powerful men in black suits. Both wore black glasses that concealed their eyes, and the one had a fedora that hid the rest of his face.

 

When Danny got within about 30 feet of the building, his ghost sense started losing it’s mind. 

 

It was in so much chaos that he was actually burping up the blue fog, having to briefly dip into an alley to get control of his breathing again. When he finally managed to relax his body enough to make the sky-colored smoke almost dissapear from his breaths, he whipped out of the dark section between buildings and continued on, still invisible, floating a solid few inches from the ground. 

 

He was all of a foot from vanishing in the door when the fedora-wearing bouncer reached out and grabbed his arm.

 

Danny shrieked like a small child, instantly reappearing. The second bouncer looked over in shock, while the first looked him over. 

 

“...Hey, John, give me five, ok?” The fedora wearing man grinned behind the shadow of his hat, and the second guy nodded. 

 

_ This is it. _ Danny thought, following weakly as the bouncer dragged him behind the wall to the left of the entrance.  _ This is how I die. _

 

When they were out of the eyes of the public, the man grinned kindly, looking at Danny. 

 

“Phantom!” He said in an easygoing, slightly excited voice. 

 

“W-” Danny jolted. “Wh-who?” He managed to recover, trying to figure out how this man knew he was Phantom.

 

“You don’t need to hide from me.” The guy smiled, then pulled off his hat and glasses. 

 

Looking at him now, the man’s skin was slightly blue, his wave of neon green hair perfectly done. The amber eyes glittered in happiness as he held a hand to Danny. “My name’s Burn, but as a human I go by Bernie. Oh, man it’s nice to meet you!” The ghost laughed, his hair, which Danny realized was slightly flickering, like a dying flame, shaking with him. 

 

Carefully, Danny shook his hand. “Um… it is?” 

 

“Well, yeah.” Burn’s eyes lit up, his excitement covering literally everything. “You’re kinda a hero to those of us who want to live among humans.”

 

“Wh-what?!” Shock had taken permanent residence in Danny’s lungs, forcing out all air.

 

“Well, when Plasmius came here…” Burn rolled his eyes. “We hoped for a halfa who would show us how to live among you. But Plasmius is an asshole.”

 

“Wait a second…” Danny jolted, realizing. “The-the thing! That Vlad called me about last week!” 

 

The week prior, a very pissed off Vlad had called Danny and told him that trashing his house while he was out was inappropriate.

 

“Yeah, that was us. Never leave your house if you’re an asshole. We thought that we were never gonna have a good halfa, but then you happened!” He laughed, patting Danny’s shoulder. “Yeah, though, a lot of ghosts have been coming here a long time. There’s a natural portal in the basement that opens up every 4 hours. It’s really reliable. This place is filled with ghosts.”

 

“...So does that mean I can go in?” Danny asked finally.

 

“Oh of course! Come with me!” Burn replaced his hat and glasses, then led Danny to the velvet rope and lifted it. 

 

When ‘John’ gave him a weird look, Burn nodded at Danny and spoke. “The kid’s in here to meet with a PG.”

 

Danny turned to give Burn a question, but the ghost answered it. “Phantom Guest, like a VIP. This whole bar is ghost themed kid, get in there!” He barked, and locked up the gate. 

 

Danny steeled himself for whatever he was about to see, and went in. 

 

Deep, throbbing base filled every inch of the room, beating every heart in the room to the same time. Everywhere he looked, there were ghosts and humans, mingled without issue. A ghost girl with fox ears and tail in a pink dress sat beside a human male in some kind of emo/punk garb, casually chatting. On the dance floor, what looked like one of the Wolrin, Frostbite’s people, danced with several other people, both boys and girls. Some very human-like male (?? Maybe??) ghost in skinny jeans and a Pink Floid t-shirt sat beside a human boy, hands one on top of the other on the seat between them. Several smaller ghosts, also more human than most ghosts Danny met, wandered the dance floor, spinning with other humans who so felt fit to grip their hand. 

 

The place was packed, the music was blasting, and Danny was officially in shock. 

 

About 7 feet deep in shock. 

 

He took mechanical steps toward the bar, every so often getting stopped by some ghost who had to pat his shoulder or give him their blessing. 

 

When he finally got to the stools, he pulled up on one to spot Tucker, hiding in a corner of booth with a plate of poutine the size of his head. 

 

The path to Tucker was blocked by dozens of humans and ghosts, but in the end, Danny figured that if the ghosts could fly around, so could he.

 

When Danny slid into the booth, Tucker jumped, then sighed. “Thank God it’s you.”

 

“There’s so many ghosts here, Tuck!” Danny grinned, looking around. 

 

“Yeah, and they all like you. I gathered that.” Tucker laughed, and pushed the poutine toward him. “Here, eat some of that.”

 

“Hells yeah.” Danny took a few fries, covered in gravy, cheese, and  _ oh my God is that bacon  _ and stuck them in his mouth. 

 

About ten minutes later, and a young ghost girl with a long, long cat tail and two fluffy orange ears which had glittering silver studs in them, walked over and shyly offered a hand. Her satin-blue dress swished when she walked, coming to just above her knees. “W-would you d-dance with m-me, Phantom?” She murmured, barely heard above the beat of the music. 

 

Danny turned to Tucker for advice, while the techno-geek shrugged, gesturing to the girl. He grinned and stood up, and she took his hand to lead to the floor, the music pounding powerfully in his ear, the entire room bouncing with the 70 or so bodies who shook together, shimmying with swift dance moves that shot through eachother.

 

The cat-girl took his hands in her own, her small, painted claws brushing his skin, spreading a cool feeling across his hands as she pulled him back and forth, spinning like a top, pulling him with her. 

 

Meanwhile, a ghost boy with what looked to be a small orb of purple light following him walked over to Tucker and offered a hand, grinning like a cat. Tucker smiled and took the hand, the ghost flying with Tucker into the air, landing on the dance floor not 2 feet from Danny. 

 

“Hey bro!” Tucker called, dipping his ‘victim’, who had obviously expected to lead, but was suddenly the partner in the dance, if his face was anything to go off. 

 

“Sup dude!” Danny returned, briefly hovering to spin his partner, before continuing to dance. 

 

“If you haven’t figured it out, I’m actually fine!” Tucker spun the ghost, who laughed playfully and returned the gesture.

 

“Yeah, you suck!” Danny spun the cat-girl behind his back, briefly flipping off Tucker before whipping back into his dance.

 

“Just needed to get you out of the house!” He released the ghost to give a brief breakdance move or two, which delighted many ghosts around.

 

Danny smirked. “Yeah, well… How long have you been casing this place?!” He released the cat-girl, pulling onto his toes and extending one leg behind him in an almost balletic pose, right before he leaned back, the extended leg bending in behind his other leg. Danny boosted off the leg on the ground, landing on his hands before flipping again onto his feet, switching dramatically to Phantom midway through. 

 

“Weeks. I figured you needed to know that you’re appreciated by both ghosts and humans!” Tucker rolled his eyes at Danny, wishing he could replicate that move. The ghost boy flipped up, hand falling to the ground as he did a hand-stand, then spun out of it. The cat-girl pulled her tail into a neck ruff, swirling like a Vegas showgirl

 

“Hah!” Danny purred sarcastically, then, on the last beat of music, he grabbed the cat’s left in his right, threw his arm behind her back, and dipped her so far back that her ears brushed the floor. 

 

A lot of the ghosts had been watching the four, even as they nodded to eachother and thanked for the dance (the ghost boy passed Tucker a piece of paper and made a little phone hand sign, mouthing ‘call me’)

 

Then, right as the next song was about to begin, the door crashed open. 

 

The moonlight from outside cast an almost comical spotlight on Danny, who was also trapped in the hulking shadow of a metal suit.

 

The music came to a screeching halt.

 

“Whelp!” Skulker shouted, pointing a rocket at Danny, who’s brain was racing so fast he couldn’t keep up.

 

About three miliseconds from the shot getting fired, the ghost girl that Danny had been dancing with ran over and rammed Skulker, throwing him out the door, the missile shooting into the air and exploding in green vapour far in the sky. 

 

Skulker stared at the thin, blue-dressed girl snarling ferally, her formerly green eyes turned a glittering red, ferocity and malice echoing in the low, angered growl.

 

“...Out of my way, child.” Skulker hissed, standing.

 

The girl didn’t move, and many, many other ghosts started up with low noises, irritation and anger at the threat to one of their own echoing with dozens of voices. 

 

When Skulker took a step forward, going to nudge her out of the way, shit got real.

 

The beautiful little cat-girl transformed, a huge, powerful blue-furred tiger leaping from her slight form, orange stripes glowing as she collided with the other ghost, her inch-long claws driving holes into the metal armour. 

 

Immediately, the ghost boy reached over and grabbed the light creature next to him, who’s glow immediately faded, instead coating the boy in deep violet sludge, four white eye-slits opening on his face, followed by a mouth that opened clean back to his ears, huge, blood red tongue slurping across teeth like daggers, before he too fired for the Ghost Zone’s Greatest Hunter, his fingers sharpened into 4 inch points. 

 

Skulker shrieked in pain and shock as the two assaulted him, their teeth and claws shredding the outer coating of his armour. When Skulker whipped out an ecto-rifle from his hand, the Wolrin lunged, thick, ice-made teeth sinking into the gun and rendering it unusable. 

 

Other ghosts attacked, transforming from their humanoid, kind-looking forms to their ferocious battle shapes, ripping into Skulker’s armour. 

 

One of the few who hadn’t attacked, a man who looked to be in his 50s with devil horns and a tail, his red hair containing some sections of grey along the sides, similar to Danny’s own father, though this ghost looked way better with it. The ghost grabbed Tucker and Danny’s arms, leading them away from the battle zone. “C’mon!” He purred in a voice that belonged to a 20-something. 

 

A human, black hair with blue highlights glimmering in the multicolored lights ran after them. 

 

“What is going on, Dev?” Asked the human, looking behind every once in a while.

 

Dev, the ghost, grabbed the human’s arm and dragged all three behind the bar. “Regent, you remember when I told you about Phantom?” Dev growled, and nodded in Danny’s direction. “Unfortunately, there are a lot of assholes in the Ghost Zone, and like, at least 90% of those assholes are after Phantom. Most ghosts aren’t nice like us.” Dev placed a hand over the top of the bar, looking over his shoulder at the fight. “But unfortunately for the ‘Ghost Zone’s Greatest Hunter’,” Dev smirked sarcastically, revealing black fangs. “He chose the wrong place to try and fuck around with you.” 

 

A green bullet slammed into the wall behind the bar, and all four shielded their faces from the ash that sprayed them. “Regent, get these two out of here.”

 

“Gotcha, babe.” Regent nodded, and pointed to the back exit as Dev prepared himself. 

 

“What about your guys’ home?!” Danny burst out, staring at Dev.

 

The demon smiled evilly, the white of his eyes turning to black, his bright blue eyes glowing brighter. “How many times do you think that this place has been fixed, Phantom?” He purred, mouth widening to show off the mouthful of sharp teeth. 

 

Regent and Dev looked at eachother briefly, right before Dev lept over the bar, huge demonic wings flaring behind him as red skin and spikes burst free of his skin, the blue eyes completely turned into blue slits. 

 

Regent grabbed Danny and Tucker, running for the exit, tearing it open as the sound of rending metal filled Danny’s ears, and just as Danny prepared to flee, he looked back at the ghosts.

 

Skulker was down on one knee, ghostly oil and ectoplasm leaking from holes in his armour as a demon stepped forward.

 

Dev’s hair had turned to bright blue flames, red skin reflective in the remaining light. The spikes that showed through his skin were golden-yellow and shimmery.

 

The boy stepped back, his tongue lolling out of his mouth like a barbed snake, the purple shifting across his body like living muscle. 

 

The tiger was stood a few feet away, her tail puffed up to almost double the original size. Every ghost looked like they would be happy to rip Skulker apart. But no one moved. 

 

Dev stepped forward and gripped the top of Skulker’s armour, ripping the head off and grabbing the small squirming object that was technically Skulker, and looked at the surrounding ghosts and humans, many who held knives made of Ectorainium or worse. 

 

Dev’s ice-blue eyes focused on Skulker, then looked at the rest, all who seemed to want a piece of Skulker for their own. 

 

“...Take him to the zone.” He snapped, throwing the green shape at the feet of the others, like throwing a lamb with three legs to a pack of starving wolves. 

 

Some ghosts stayed for the beat down, while the others pulled out drywall repairer or brooms, sweeping the mess into dustpans and patching holes. 

 

Carefully, Danny and Tucker crept back in. 

 

Dev was shifting back to his human shape, and Regent quickly went to hug him. The tiger was vanishing, transforming back to the little cat-girl. The purple slime melted off the boy, reforming into the orb of light by his side. Others returned to their human-like forms, offering hands to the humans they had protected. 

 

When Skulker had yanked out a gun, ghosts had shoved humans to the floor, turning them intangible or flying them away from the firing line. 

 

The scene made Danny’s heart swell, tears almost coming to his eyes at the scene of humans and ghosts working together.

 

Burn, still in his black suit, walked over with a smile. “Take your friend home, Phantom.” The ghost smiled. “We’ve done this many times over.” 

 

“...If you say so.” Phantom shrugged, returning the ghost’s grin. 

 

“You two have a good night, ok? Remember, anytime you need a break, head on over here. I’m sure there’s a ghost or person willing to buy you a drink.”

 

Danny nodded, taking Tucker by the shoulder as the pair shot into the sky. 

 

Many cranked back their necks to follow. “...He follows his passion.” The cat-girl spoke.

 

“No, he follows his heart. His heart says to save.” Burn corrected. 

 

The boy smiled, waving at the fading green speck in the clouds. “I’m glad to have my passion. Because then we can be free.”

 

“Passions are unlike obsessions.” The Wolrin stood beside them. “And they begin with a choice.”

 

“...He had a passion from the start.” Dev raised a hand to his face, shading his eyes.

 

“Then he shall serve as a beacon for the whole Ghost Zone, and he shall show us how to live after-lives worth having.” The Wolrin laughed. 

 

^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^

 

“You owe me.” Danny grumbled, but he was still smiling. 

 

“Sure Danny.” Tucker grinned up at the halfa. “Sure.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have no excuse for this chapter.
> 
> The only purpose of this chapter was to introduce Spyder and Diann. 
> 
> Who I didn't even give names to but fUCK IT


	5. Soliloquy for Death

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Danny joins a school contest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...I'm really sick this week. Enjoy 2 chapters because of my suffering.
> 
> ARE YOU BASTARDS HAPPY?!

‘SOLILOQUY CONTEST’

 

That is what Mr. Lancer wrote on the chalkboard.

 

“This competition is worth extra points, should you chose to enter. If not, then it will simply be judged as any other assignment.” He announced to the students.

 

Danny tried to focus. If this was worth a lot of extra points, maybe he could bring up his grade!

 

Kwan’s hand flashed into the air, and Lancer pointed to him. “Yes?”

 

“What is a… Soliloquy?” Kwan asked politely, tilting his head slightly.

 

“Excellent question, Kwan!” Lancer smiled. “A soliloquy is a speech, or a rant, really, about a single subject.” 

 

“Interesting…” Kwan purred quietly. 

 

“I want these soliloquies only 200-400 words long, no longer, no shorter. Those who wish to enter the contest, go in this folder by Friday.” Lancer pointed to a file folder on the left side of his desk. In bold blue letters, it read ‘CONTEST’ on the front. “The others, go in here.” The second folder had ‘ASSIGNMENT’ printed on it in red. “Friday.” He reaffirmed. “Until then, pull out your textbooks and open to page…”

 

Danny tuned him out, thinking about the contest. If it was really worth extra points, then he had to enter.  _ What would I even write about? _ He wondered, and shifted in his chair.  _...Who’d even want to read something I’d write about? _

 

His thoughts were switched from contest to ghost when a wisp of blue smoke escaped his lips. 

 

Immediately, his hand shot into the air, hoping Lancer would notice fast.

 

He didn’t.

 

Technus was thrown through a wall, closely followed by a furious Skulker, who roared something about ‘how dare you steal my armour’ 

 

While others darted behind desks and chairs, Danny turned intangible and invisible, quickly vanishing before anyone had any idea to try and find him.

 

Skulker and Technus were still busy screaming at eachother when ectoplasmic goop hit both of them in the face, effectively silencing them while they pulled it off. 

 

“Well, I always knew that you two were totally a couple, but I didn’t expect your first lover’s tiff to be in here.” Phantom floated in the doorway, cocky grin across his face. 

 

“Ghost child!” Both of them shouted at the same time, and Phantom grinned. 

 

“The one and only.” He purred as his hand lit up bright, neon green. 

 

^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^

 

It was Thursday evening. 

 

Danny hadn’t had a single idea for the darn contest or his assignment, even.

 

_ And it’s not even evening anymore! _ Danny mentally screamed.  _ No, it’s freaking 3 AM! _

 

“Stupid…” He kicked a foot into his bed, furious. “Fucking… Dead!”

 

Then he got an idea. A really, potentially bad idea.

 

But it didn’t matter, he needed those marks. 

 

So he sat at his laptop, and he wrote.

 

^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^

 

Danny did indeed turn it in on Friday, but he had been so tired that he had all but forgotten what he had written about. 

 

After that, he forgot about it again, until everyone was called in to the gym for the contest winners. Since Amity had the largest gym and were the newest to the contest, they were decided as the hosts.

 

Danny, who had gotten a grand total of 4 hours of sleep over 2 days, sat next to Tucker and Sam, who had more or less dragged him through the first half of the day. 

 

“Testing, testing…” Lancer called into the microphone, attracting the attention of the students. “Hello everyone, and welcome to the Soliloquy Contest, the first one that Amity Park has ever been invited to, how exciting!” There was a lot of laughter from the audience. “Bradbury, Westden, and Niscuc were nice enough to invite us, so let’s give the judges and students from there a round of applause.” Everyone in the gym clapped, a few cheers ringing up from the student body. “We had many, many wonderful submissions over the last week, but from over 200 submissions, we only have one grand prize winner, 4 first prize winners, one from each town, along with second and thirds. The judges were Ms. Cooper, from Bradbury.” A tall woman with blue eyes and bright yellow hair in a high ponytail stood up from the judge’s seats, which were on the stage, near the podium. “Mr. Lindsay, from Westden.” A man with short cut brown hair and auburn eyes stood up and waved shyly. “Mrs. Mcline, from Niscuc.” An older woman with silver-grey hair cut into a no-nonsense bob rose, cast her piercing green stare over the crowd, and sat again. “and myself.” Mr. Lancer nodded. “And without further ado, I’ll call Ms. Cooper to the stage to call her winners.”

 

The blond woman walked over the podium, the light blue sun-dress she wore somehow looking professional with white heels. “Hello everyone! I’m Ms. Cooper, the English teacher at Redfield High.” She spoke with a smile in her voice, a kind and polite tone. “It’s so great to have Amity Park join us today! But that aside, let’s get into it. The grand prize winner will have their soliloquy read to the others, which I’m very excited to read! But first... Our third prize winner from Bradbury is Chad Barington, having written ‘Birds Above’,” Everyone clapped as a relatively chubby boy with dirty blond hair ran up to the stage. “Our second is Lacy Lienn, with her piece ‘Wonder’,” A prissy-looking girl with delicate skin and platinum blond hair walked over calmly. “And our first prize goes to Amara ‘Ace’ Demak, who wrote ‘After All This Time’, an amazing piece on depression and anxiety, thank you, Amara.” A thin girl in a black jacket, her hair long and in a ponytail, which showed off the rainbow of colors in the ebony hair, stood, and quietly walked over to the stage. As the trio bowed, all of the others clapped loudly, many cheering. “All the winners will be available to read just outside the gym, and on that note, I’ll call up Mr. Lindsay.”

 

The brown-haired man walked over, clearing his throat before speaking. “Hello everyone, my name is Mr. Lindsay. I’m the English Language Arts teacher in Merpalda High.” He gave a small wave as his students cheered. A few called out to the shy teacher, telling him that ‘you can do it’ and ‘just talk’. “Y-yeah, my students know I’m not the best at public speaking… So let’s get on with it. Our third prize winner from Westden is Samuel Alexander, who wrote ‘Flight’.” A thin, tanned boy ran up to the stage, spikey black hair gone every which way. “Our second place winner is Chandel ‘Del’ Myre, with ‘Heartbeat’.” A tall girl with brown hair that had magenta in the tips trotted up the steps, two at a time. “And our first prize goes to Mika Lan Kie, with his piece ‘Wish Upon a Star’, about hope and loss.” A boy with light blond hair ran up the stage as well, waving to the others before grabbing Samuel’s hand, spinning the shorter boy around before kissing him and releasing him back into line.

 

Wild cheers rang up from the audience, and all the teachers laughed as Mrs. Mcline marched up to the podium. “Hello children, I am Mrs. Mcline.” Her voice was cold and calm, straightforward and solid. “I am the English teacher at Scol High. All these students impressed me and my coligues greatly while judging this, but do not expect easy judging. Third place from Niscuc is ‘Deviance’, by Marie Junal. Second, ‘Headphones’ by Sean Lanc, and first, ‘Ignorance’ by Luna Meir, about the disconnect of children to the world.” All three, a blue-haired girl, a green-haired boy and a white-haired girl had to rush to the stage. 

 

Mr. Lancer returned to the podium, and smiled. “My name is Mr. Lancer, I’m the English teacher at Casper High, and I’m really happy to be here today. It’s a great honor.” All the students cheered. “With that said, I’d like to call up our third place. Fern Luka, with ‘Winter’,” a girl who Danny had met a total of once ran up, her forest green hair bouncing behind her. “Our second place goes to Tucker Foley, who wrote ‘Flashes’.” Tucker did a quick fist-pump as he ran up to the stage, laughing as Sam gave him a death glare. “And our first prize goes to Valery Grey, with ‘Wars From Within’.” Valery stood up, and walked to the stage. “A round of applause for the individual town winners!” And the place erupted into cheers. 

 

When it quieted down again, after the winners had been given their prizes and gone back to their seats, Lancer began again. “For the grand prize winners, third runner up goes to Diann Kilma from Niscuc, who wrote ‘Blackstar’.” A guy with orange hair ran up, and took his prize. “Second runner up goes to Celia Smith, from Westden, with ‘Greyscale’.” A girl with seafoam green hair dashed up the steps to take her paper. “And our grand prize winner is the amazing piece, ‘Ghost’, by Daniel Fenton.”

 

Both Sam and Tucker stared at Danny in shock as he blinked in shock, having forgotten that he even submitted it. Almost mechanically, he stood and walked up to the podium as he was handed the folded page, which was sealed with a small wax emblem. 

 

“And now, for your enjoyment, we’d like to read you ‘Ghost’.” Ms. Cooper announced, rising to stand beside Lancer as the other teachers followed suit. 

 

“At exactly 400 words of poetic brilliance, I’d like to thank Daniel for the absolute pleasure of this work. Very thought provoking.” Mrs. Mcline purred. 

 

Then, in a cool, clear voice, the elderly lady read. 

 

“They who few have met Death and lived, I give you my thanks. 

 

Death is a kind and fair person, who takes those who they need.

 

Those who force their hand, they are fools, and Death shall punish them accordingly. 

 

But to those who have met Death and lived, you are unnafraid. 

 

Those who faced Death in failings of thy breast, I thank you. For you will not greet Death in fear when they come for you again, but you will greet them as an old friend, for you cannot evade Death twice. 

 

When terrible illness strikes like a viper in the night, then you shall fear Death. If you are healed, though, you shall evade them, and Death will not be angry. In fact, they will wave you free of your suffering and pain, bidding you back to the land of life with no more than a smile, for it is not yet your time.

 

Those of you who have seen Death’s work, I feel sorry for you. 

 

When someone close to your heart is lost to their cold embrace, you know pain like no other.

 

The world turns blue with sorrow and red with rage, distilled emotion that shakes you to your core.

 

Those who saw Death’s weaving in the strings of life, I give you my condolences. Your pain is mine as well. Your world turns to shades of grey met only by colorful, hateful emotion. 

 

One day, that grey shall clear, and one day you will see colors other than hatred. 

 

Death greets all who come through their gates, and will stay with you until you are ready to move on. 

 

Some, however walk straight to the gates, and they stand on the threshold of the end and the beginning. 

 

Death, they look to those people, and they tell them to return to life, to return to the place where air still enters ruined lungs, to the place where broken hearts still beat. 

 

To those who Death has already let past the gates, let me sing for you.

 

Let me sing a song of love and hate, of fear and hope, of desperation and relaxation. 

 

Let me sing you to sleep, so that your loss is more peaceful than mine.

 

Those who come back, it is not me thanking you. 

 

That is the world.

 

My words are, I’m sorry.

 

For coming back is an awful thing.”

 

Silence. 

 

For a long time, the entire room sat in deafening silence.

 

Then the crowd erupted in a roar like a lion, filling the silence with their celebration. 

 

Danny tried to process the praise coming from the crowd as he remembered writing the 400 words.  _ That was at 4 am. _ He realized, on autopilot as he shook hands with the teachers and the other winners, Lancer handing him the marked sheet of paper, then returning to his seat. 

 

As the groups disbanded, heading home for the day, Danny and the gang walked down the halls, joined by Jazz.

 

“Wow Danny!” Sam gasped. “That was amazing!” 

 

“I had no idea you could write like that, bro.” Tucker smiled. “That was awesome.”

 

“Your prose was flawless, the subject was intriguing and powerful, and your words meant something.” Jazz broke it down. “Incredible.”

 

“Th-thanks guys…” Danny stammered. “T-to be honest, I forgot all about it.” 

 

“How in the Halibut could you forget about that!?” Tucker shook his shoulders. “What did Lancer say?” 

 

“I-I’m not sure…” Danny fingered the corner of the folded sheet that held the marked soliloquy. “I haven’t opened it yet.” 

 

“Open it up!” Sam demanded with a grin, and Danny quickly unfurled the page. 

 

In bright red, at the top of the page, was written 100%, circled in red. In blue, double underlined, was written ‘See me!’. 

 

“U-uh…” Danny mumbled nervously. “I-I… h-he wants to see me?” He looked over the page again. There were no other marks on the paper.

 

“Oh shit… Ok, we’ll take care of the kids, ok?” Tucker laughed at the code, then took off down the hall. Sam gave a sympathetic smile to Danny before she ran after him.

 

Jazz waved bye at the exit, turning and walking out to the sunlight.

 

Danny whipped about the corner, making a casual nervous jog to Lancer’s office, before he carefully stepped inside. 

 

“Mr. Fenton.” Lancer’s cool voice reached Danny’s ears. “I am glad you got my message before you went home.” 

 

“Y-yeah…” Danny rubbed the back of his neck.

 

“Don’t worry, you aren't in trouble. In fact, the opposite.” That made Danny’s head flick up. “Yes, I’m just… worried, about the reality with which you discuss this.” He gave a thoughtful nod. “May I see your paper?” 

 

“Um, sure…” Danny held out the page. 

 

“Yes, Ms. Cooper in particular asked if you had any history of deadly medical incidents.” Lancer looked over the paper. “Though, Mrs. Mcline was very impressed. She told me that, unlike most of the soliloquies, yours was very raw. It was thought about, yes…” Lancer tapped the end of his pen on his desk. “But it wasn’t edited a thousand times. It was raw writing, your direct thoughts without change. Mrs. Mcline was very impressed.” He repeated. “Which leads me to another question,” Lancer paused. “Daniel, I do not know too much about you, which is fine. But the reality you write with shows either long-time reflection or experience. With this particular topic, this would have less ability to have reflection, and more experience.” Lancer looked calmly at Danny, grey-teal eyes reminding Danny of the color of some ghosts. “But… I must ask, Danny…” He sighed. Danny’s heart stopped, dread filling his chest. “Have you ever had a near-death experience?”

 

_ Near death? _ Danny wanted to laugh.  _ I have died! _ He could remember the feeling of ectoplasm driving through his body like knives through his veins, his heart slowing to a stop, his pain-filled panicked brain struggling for an explanation, for an ounce of hope, before it shut down. He remembered it wriggling like a worm on a hook, screaming for release of the horror, searching for even the thinnest thread of life to cling to, to keep him awake. 

 

Right before it all popped to black, like a light switch. There was no fade, like they kept telling him. One second he was in the agony of life, the next, the peacefulness of death. He remembered meeting Death. They were kind, but it was only half of Danny’s time. So rather than stay in the wonderful, pleasant world of death, he was shunted back to the horrible pain of life, the convulsions of his chest rattling, chains in a crypt, singing out the song of the End.

 

“No, sir…” Danny finally stammered out. “It was just introspection.” 

 

“‘Just introspection’?” Lancer repeated. “Then why, may I ask, do you speak like Death is a friend of yours? Is he?”

 

Danny winced. “First off,” He let slip. “Death has no gender.” 

 

“How do you know that?”

 

“I… Just, in the purpose of this… Thing…” Danny backpedaled. 

 

“You said that with… confidence.” Lancer waved his pen. “As if…they are a friend of yours.”

 

“I…” Danny mumbled.

 

“I understand if this is a difficult subject, Daniel, so… Let’s try this area. You said ‘Those who come back, it is not me thanking you. That is the world.’.” Lancer pointed out the line. “Why do you believe that the world thanks them for coming back?” 

 

“Whenever we have a recovered cancer patient, for example, brought back from the brink, we always send them our wishes, they wind up on TV, they have things written about them…” Danny shrugged. “In short, the world thanks them for surviving.”

 

“...Curious… It’s really the next lines though, that make me wonder.” Lancer muttered.

 

“O-oh..?”

 

“You follow up the statement with ‘My words are, I’m sorry. For coming back is an awful thing’.” Lancer stared at Danny as he looked down, eyes darkening. “What makes you think that coming back is so awful?”

 

Calm, perfect black silence, beautiful and pure, wonderful and relaxing, Danny remembered. In less than a second, it jumped to horrible, mind-shattering agony as he was dragged from death back to life. 

 

“Because…” Danny said quietly, looking at the ground, hair guarding his eyes. “In death, you… you don’t feel anymore. It’s painless.” He murmured. “I guess… Anyway… it’s just… being forced back into the land of the living seems like horror after… something so peaceful.”

 

Lancer detected the subtlest shake in his student’s shoulders as he shuddered, his face hidden by his black fringe. “...Thank you for your time, Daniel.”

 

“N-no problem Mr…” Danny broke off for a second to sniff. “Lancer.” Then the boy turned, ignoring the paper he left on the desk, clutching his first prize page to his chest, and he practically ran from the room. 

 

_ There is something very off about that boy… _ Lancer thought, listening to his steps fading.

 

The second he was out of earshot, Danny whipped into the nearest storage room, hid behind a shelf, and broke down. 

 

The half-repressed memories too frightening to have in a horror movie flashed through his brain as he cried, letting all the pain and fear fall out, all the suppressed emotion leaking free of his mind.

 

Tucker and Sam spammed his phone, but he never picked up. Instead, he turned it off. Soon after that, they called Jazz, who also tried her luck, but to no avail. 

 

Lazyr, Tucker and Sam handled the ghosts that evening, though Danny came back at night. He spoke no words, just seemed colder, more sad than usual.

 

_ If only they knew. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The soliloquy used in this chapter is an actual thing that I wrote for an actual school assignment.
> 
> That I got 100% on.
> 
> That everyone in my school looked at me weirdly for a week because of.
> 
> Yeah.

**Author's Note:**

> After all this happened, Victor posted the selfie. His followers tripled overnight.
> 
> Jazz also got very popular in a few hours.


End file.
